Doc Austin
Back From The Dead
Well, yes it is. The entire allure of speed is the danger. Just going fast is no big deal. Astronauts orbit at about 30,000mph, but they even sleep through that. Without danger, speed is meaningless. On the other hand, 100mph in a shifter kart is terrifying because you can get hurt. If it's terrifying why would you do it unless it's also exhilarating?
Then we should all be racing slot cars and no one would ever get hurt. That or RC cars.
Yeah, as you can easily see, the danger is an important part of the thrill. I'm not alone in this thinking. I'll refer you to Jacques Villeneuve as someone who isn't ashamed to admit he likes the danger. We like it. Imagine how much they must have liked it in 1971.
Competition is part of why you do it, but without the danger it would be like, well, racing slot cars. Hey, those things are real competitive and I loved racing them, but there was no thrill, not like when I was racing a shifter kart.
Competition is part of why you race, but at the formula one level the last thing any of them want is competition. There is simply so much pressure to win they can't afford to lose. The way they drive their own teammates off the road or into the wall shows you how much they care about fair competition. Even Hamilton never missed a chance to give Nico a wheel whenever he though he might get beaten, so I don't buy it that competition is all of the racer's mindset.
Thrill seekers are far from whack jobs. They just aren't afraid of their own shadows and like a good rollercoaster ride. People drive race cars, scuba dive, sky dive and do all kinds of supposedly whack things every day. It doesn't make them whack jobs. It makes the achievers. I makes them feel alive. Not everyone understands this.
And a few poseurs hoping to impress somebody later over ****tails. I'm done.[/QUOTE]